ITALY ON EU ENGAGEMENT WITH CIVIL SOCIETY IN CUBA

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 000056 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/13/2020 TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV SOCI CU IT SUBJECT: ITALY ON EU ENGAGEMENT WITH CIVIL SOCIETY IN CUBA REF: STATE 131637 Classified By: Political-Military Counselor J. Liam Wasley for reasons 1.4(b) and 1.4(d) ¶1. (C) On January 8, Poloff delivered reftel points to Michele Pala, MFA Office Director for Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean to brief the GOI on the USG approach on Cuba and to ascertain GOI perspective on the current state of their bilateral relations with Cuba, Italy's stance on the EU Common Position, and the role of their embassies in supporting civil society in Cuba. ¶2. (C) Pala stated that the USG approach had great potential to produce positive results from the GOC in the mid-term to long-term time frame. He offered the example of the political prisoner and Spanish businessman released after the October 2009 visit by Spanish Foreign Minister Moratinos, who was employing a similar strategy of engagement to that favored by the USG approach. Pala stated that such direct engagement is the most effective approach for producing cooperation. He noted a slight decrease in the population of political prisoners overall recently, but suggested this was likely due to the release of those who had served their term; it was not necessarily a clear sign of improvement on the human rights front. ¶3. (C) On bilateral relations, Pala stated that the GOI continues to press the GOC on democracy, pluralism, and the release of political prisoners. As progress is made on these issues, he said the GOI looks forward to strengthening its current efforts on commercial and cultural exchange with the GOC. Recently, a "significant" number of Italian businesses, as well as the Ministry of Economic Development's Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade, attended the November 2009 International Trade Fair in Cuba. On October 15, Cuban Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Dagoberto Rodriguez Barrera visited Italy to discuss bilateral relations with MFA Undersecretary Vincenzo Scotti. They also discussed the human rights situation in Cuba and the GOI's hope that the Cuban government would seize the opportunity presented by "the new approach of the Obama administration towards the island state." In addition to intergovernmental relations, the GOI mission in Havana also "maintains regular contact with the democratic opposition." There are a limited number of student exchange programs between Italy and Cuba, but "not big numbers" according to Pala. ¶4. (C) On the issue of replacing the EU Common Position withQndividual bilateral agreements, Pala stated that this was not the GOI's understanding of the current situation. Instead, he understood that Spain "will propose a balanced debate on Cuba policy as in 2008 when measures and sanctions were removed." He said dialogue will continue and that the replacement of the Common Position will be debated in an effort to find the best strategy to bring democracy, pluralism, and improved human rights to Cuba. "All of us, the US and Europe, agree on these goals," he said. He added, that moving forward "it will not be a competition between bilateral agreements and the Common Position." ¶5. (C) While Pala did not specify any particular aspects of the bilateral or EU-Cuba relationship that would benefit from greater coordination with the USG, he was very optimistic about the effectiveness such a united front would have on encouraging the GOC to become more responsive to concerns expressed by the international community. He added that "no one expected the US to lift the embargo in one day," but pointed out that pressure for change was likely to develop from within Cuba as the USG stance became more focused on engagement. Pala suggested that the anti-US rhetoric proffered by the GOC would be dismissed by Cuban civil society as the contrast with USG efforts became more evident. THORNE